MOC hoops teams split at St. Andrews

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on February 24, 2004 1:55 PM

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LAURINBURG -- Johnny Galarza scored 22 of his season-high 25 points in the second half and Marcus West recorded a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds as Mount Olive College came from behind to defeat host St. Andrews 94-84 in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference men's basketball Monday at Laurinburg.

The win -- combined with Barton's loss at Queens -- clinches homecourt advantage for Mount Olive in the quarterfinal round of next week's CVAC Tournament. The Trojans are assured of finishing no lower than third in the regular-season conference standings.

Mount Olive (19-6 overall, 13-5 CVAC) jumped out to an early 9-2 lead as Galarza hit the first of his four three-pointers during a 7-0 run. St. Andrews (6-20, 4-15) answered with a 10-2 run to take a 12-11 lead, the first of seven lead changes in the first half.

After the Trojans took a 21-19 lead on a pair of Elton Coffield free throws, St. Andrews answered with a 12-2 run to go up by eight points with 3:33 remaining in the half. Mount Olive made a run at the end of the half and Maurice Horton's three-pointer tied the game 34-34 with 23 seconds left in the half.

St. Andrews went into the locker room with a 37-34 halftime lead as Clarence Ferguson hit a three-pointer with four seconds remaining.

St. Andrews took its biggest lead of the game early in the second half as Derrick Darkis' three-pointer extended the Knights' lead to 45-36 with 17:19 left in the contest. Galarza ignited a 9-0 run with a three-pointer and capped the run with a field goal to tie the game.

After Darkis and West each hit a three-pointer, Mount Olive took the lead for good as West hit a pair of free throws to put the Trojans on top 50-48 with 13:22 remaining.

After back-to-back three-pointers by Galarza extended the Trojans' lead to six, St. Andrews cut the lead to one as Ferguson's dunk pulled the Knights within 60-59 with 9:51 remaining. But West keyed an 8-0 run with a field goal, two free throws and a blocked shot to give the Trojans a nine-point lead. St. Andrews cut the lead to three, but Galarza and Coffield combined for eight points during a 12-2 run as Mount Olive led 80-69 with 1:45 left in the game. St. Andrews never came any closer than eight the rest of the way as the Trojans hit 8-of-11 free throws in the final 1:16.

Mount Olive hit its first 22 free throws and 27 of its first 28 attempts before missing a pair with seven seconds remaining.

Coffield went 9-for-9 from the line and scored 17 points for the Trojans, while Maurice Horton added 10 points and a season-high nine rebounds. West shot 8-for-8 from the line and Galarza hit 7-of-8.

Galarza's 25 points marked the Trojans' highest single-game scoring total of the season. Darkis scored 21 points for St. Andrews, while Mike Smith added 17 points and Ferguson finished with 14.

Mount Olive remains in third place in the CVAC standings, one game behind Queens and two games ahead of Belmont Abbey with two games remaining. By virtue of virtue of the conference tie-breaker formula, Mount Olive is assured of finishing no lower than third in the conference standings and will play a CVAC Tournament quarterfinal-round game at College Hall a week from Wednesday as either the No. 3 or No. 2 seed.

Mount Olive plays its final regular season home game Thursday as the Trojans play host to Coker in CVAC action. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at College Hall.

Notes: Pfeiffer clinched the regular season title and the No. 1 seed in next week's CVAC Tournament ... If Mount Olive and Queens finish in a tie for second, the Trojans win the tie-breaker and earn the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament ... Barton and Belmont Abbey will face each other in the quarterfinals of the CVAC Tournament.

Mount Olive women

drop game at St. Andrews

LAURINBURG -- Karen Foggie scored nine of her 15 points from the free throw line as host St. Andrews defeated Mount Olive College 70-57 in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference women's basketball Monday.

Despite the loss, Mount Olive remained in the No. 8 spot in the CVAC standings and could still host a first-round game in next week's CVAC Tournament.

Mount Olive (10-15 overall, 6-12 CVAC) rallied from an early five-point deficit and led by as many as four points in the first half as Melanie Cobb's layup gave the Trojans a 24-20 lead with 4:40 left in the half.

St. Andrews (11-15, 8-11) finished the half with 10 unanswered points and went into the locker room with a 30-24 lead at intermission.

St. Andrews scored the first three points of the second half to extend the run to 13-0 before Latoria Harvey's layup ended the run and cut the Knights' lead to 33-26. St. Andrews built the lead to 10 points, but Mount Olive chipped away until Shenetta Moye's two free throws capped a 7-0 run and tied the game 48-48 with 7:32 remaining. After a timeout, St. Andrews scored seven unanswered points to break the tie and take the lead for good. The Trojans never came any closer than four points the rest of the way.

Harvey recorded her 15th double-double of the season with game highs of 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Trojans. Cobb and Teneal Boone added 10 points apiece. Kebony Thompson scored 14 points for St. Andrews.

While Monday's loss prevents Mount Olive from finishing any higher than eighth in the conference standings, the Trojans maintain a one-game lead over Queens and Pfeiffer for the final berth to host a first-round game next Monday in the CVAC Tournament. Queens fell to Barton 79-50 Monday, while Pfeiffer defeated Limestone 70-65.

Mount Olive plays its final regular season home game Thursday as the Trojans play host to Coker in CVAC action. Tip-off is 5:30 p.m. at College Hall.

Notes: If Mount Olive does host a first-round game, the Trojans will play either Pfeiffer or Queens. If Mount Olive plays its first-round game on the road, it would still likely be against either Pfeiffer or Queens, but there's still a mathematical chance the Trojans could play Erskine, Lees-McRae or St. Andrews ... Barton clinched the No. 1 seed with its win over Queens Monday ... Coker clinched a first-round bye with Monday's win over Erskine.